Sheldon Cooper

Sheldon Cooper is a theoretical physicist at Caltech who lives with his best friend, Leonard Hofstadter. Sheldon is known for his brilliant mind but also his quirky behavior and idiosyncrasies. Sheldon has a hard time understanding sarcasm and is, with the exception of his close friends and girlfriend Amy, uncomfortable with most social situations. Sheldon is extremely logical, but this comes at a cost of often being rude of condescending to others. Although Sheldon's friends are often the subject of his put downs and narcissistic behavior, they have generally learned to live with Sheldon's quirks. Bernadette says that Sheldon doesn't know when he's being mean as "the part of his brain that should know is getting a wedgie from the rest of his brain".

Although Sheldon does not enjoy the sport, he has a strong understanding of American football, thanks to his late father. When Leonard wanted to learn more about football to ingratiate himself with Penny's friends, Sheldon taught him football. When the guys spent Thanksgiving at Mrs. Wolowitz's house, Sheldon bonded with Bernadette's father, Mike Rostenkowski, over football and beer.

Sheldon generally avoids alcohol, drugs and caffeinated beverages, though he has made exceptions. Sheldon has been inadvertently drunk a number of times, usually at the hands of Penny. Sheldon voluntarily drank alcohol when he was nervous about giving a speech at an awards banquet. Sheldon also shared some beers with Bernadette's father, Mike, one Thanksgiving.

Sheldon's wardrobe includes a large number of superhero and other geeky t-shirts. He usually wears a different color long-sleeved shirt underneath his t-shirts.

Early Life and Family

Sheldon was born in Galveston, Texas, to Mary Cooper, a devout Evangelical Christian, and George Cooper, an alcoholic. Sheldon has an older brother and a fraternal twin sister, Missy. According to Mary Cooper, her two other children are "dumb as soup". Sheldon's father died when he was fourteen.

Sheldon has a loving yet complicated relationship with his mother, Mary. Although Sheldon greatly appreciates the love and support she gives him, he's uncomfortable with her religious beliefs. When Mary comes to town, Sheldon looks forward to her taking care of him as if he was a kid again. Despite his fondness for his mother's affection, Sheldon has at times longed for the sort of mother Leonard had in Beverly Hofstadter, a cold and distant mother with a brilliant analytical mind.

Sheldon speaks fondly of his grandmother, whom he calls Meemaw and who calls him Moonpie. Growing up, Sheldon's grandfather, whom he called Pop-Pop, was the person who most encouraged Sheldon's interest in science. Pop-Pop died when Sheldon was five years old.

Sheldon's academic brilliance started at an early age. Sheldon started college at the age of eleven and graduate at fourteen. He was, at the time, the youngest person to receive the Stevenson Award, receiving it at fourteen and a half. Sheldon received his first doctorate at age sixteen. He spent a year as a visiting professor at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.

Relationship with Amy

After Howard and Raj secretly set up an online dating profile for Sheldon, the website matched him with Amy Farrah Fowler, a neurobiologist. Howard and Raj blackmailed Sheldon into meeting Amy with the threat of a dirty sock. When Amy told Sheldon she only met with him because of an agreement with her mother to date once a year, and after she informed him that all forms of physical contact (up to and including coitus) were off the table, Sheldon offered to buy her a beverage.

After their first date, Amy and Sheldon texted each other for a few months. At the insistence of Penny, Sheldon and Amy went out on a proper date. Throughout this early stage of their relationship, Sheldon categorized her as a "a girl who is my friend but is not my girlfriend".

When Stuart asked Amy out on a date, Sheldon experienced feelings of jealousy and eventually recognized his feelings for Amy. After Sheldon interrupted Amy's date to convince her to stay with him, he and Amy officially become boyfriend and girlfriend with the signing of the relationship agreement. Their relationship grew closer when he cuddled an upset Amy after Bernadette and Penny left her out of wedding dress shopping. When the gang watched Howard's space launch on TV, in one small step for Sheldon, he grabbed hold of Amy's hand.

When Amy was sick with the flu, Sheldon took care of her as was his duty under the relationship agreement. Amy enjoyed Sheldon taking care of her so much that she pretended to be sick even after she had recovered. When Sheldon uncovered Amy's deception, he chose to punish her by spanking her. After Sheldon lied to Barry Kripke about having a sexual relationship with Amy, Penny asked him straight out whether he would consider a physical relationship. Sheldon told her it was a possibility.

When the whole gang played Dungeons and Dragons one evening, Amy got upset that the guys were mocking her relationship with Sheldon. Amy asked Sheldon if he thought their relationship will ever get intimate. Sheldon told Amy he doesn't consider their relationship a joke and that he would not rule intimacy out. Sheldon then played out the love potion scenario of the game with Amy, much to her delight.

For Valentine's Day, Amy arranged a romantic weekend trip to Napa Valley aboard a vintage train. After Sheldon spent the journey with a fellow train enthusiast, Amy confronted him about his behavior. Sheldon made Amy admit she "manipulated" him with the perfect trip in pursuit of romance, so Sheldon sarcastically gave her the romance she wanted. Sheldon drank wine, stared into her eyes and then kissed her. Though he intended the kiss to be short and sarcastic, Sheldon lingered and seemed like he may have enjoyed it. When Sheldon spent Anything Can Happen Thursday with Penny, she took him to see a psychic. The psychic told Sheldon all his issues, personal and professional, would be solved if he commits completely to Amy.

When the girls decided to recreate their proms on the roof of the apartment building, Sheldon was worried Amy might be expecting an intimate evening, as is Sheldon, who didn't attend his high school prom, was eager for his first prom to go well and chose to embrace all traditions associated with prom. When Sheldon picked Amy on the night of the party, he was overwhelmed and told her he couldn't go. Sheldon later admitted he was worried that Amy would be expecting them to get intimate after the party. Amy told him that she is always hopeful for something to happen, but that she just wanted to have a nice time. When Amy tried to tell Sheldon something, telling him he shouldn't feel any pressure to say it back, Sheldon jumped in and said "I love you, too." Sheldon told Amy there is no denying he has feelings for her that can not be explained in any other way.

Sheldon upset Amy when he revealed he had signed up for a one-way trip to colonize Mars without even discussing it with her. Although Sheldon didn't initially understand Amy's anger, he later asked her if she would like to submit a joint application for them both to go to Mars. After Sheldon was not invited to a physics symposium, he and Amy talked about how badly it feels to be left out. Sheldon mentioned how he used to feel as a kid when his brother and sister would make forts in the living room and not let him enter. Amy suggested they spend the night building a fort in the living. Sheldon had so much fun he changed the parameters of the Relationship Agreement to allow Amy to spend the night.

After Sheldon interrupted their kissing to ask Amy whether he should watch a new TV show, Amy was angry that Sheldon wasn't paying attention to her on their anniversary date night. Amy took a few days away from Sheldon to think about their relationship. When Amy contacted Sheldon again, she told him being his girlfriend was challenging and she needed to take a step back and re-evaluate their situation. After the video chat ended, Sheldon turned to the Gollum figure on his desk to ask what he should do with a ring.

Following Amy’s declaration that she needed some time to take a step back and re-evaluate their relationship, Sheldon pestered Amy to find out whether they were still together. After he started insulting her, Amy announced that they were broken up. Sheldon tried to make Amy jealous by returning a box of her stuff, including a red bra that wasn’t hers. Sheldon further offended Amy further when he filmed an episode of Fun with Flags full of thinly veiled references to their split and sent her the link. When an annoyed Amy confronted Sheldon about it, he took her watching the video as a sign she wanted him back.

When Leonard and Penny announced their intention to move in together, Sheldon tried to get Amy to be his new roommate, but she denied. The emotional stress of Amy leaving him and Leonard & Penny moving out caused Sheldon to revert to his 2003 self. After Sheldon learned that Barry Kripke was interested in asking Amy out, Sheldon decided it was time for him to consider dating other women.

During an interview for a documentary about Leonard Nimoy and Spock, Sheldon tried to be logical and rational, but he struggled to keep his emotions about the break-up in check. After realizing that he still had feelings for Amy, Sheldon grabbed his engagement ring and went to see her, only to catch her being kissed goodnight by a man. Sheldon returned home without talking to Amy.

To try move on from Amy, Sheldon decided it was time to meet someone new so he turned to Howard and Raj, who had originally set him up with Amy. After they devised an online scavenger hunt to try find a woman suitable for Sheldon, they spent an evening waiting for somebody to show up at the apartment. When an attractive and intelligent woman arrived, Sheldon sent her away as she had missed the deadline.

When none of Sheldon’s friends wanted to go with him to the aquarium on Thanksgiving, Amy went along as a friend. After spending an enjoyable day with Sheldon, Amy called him to ask if he was interested in getting back together. Sheldon told her that getting over her was not something he excelled at, so he thought they should just remain friends.

As Sheldon was driven mad by an earworm, he eventually realized the song he couldn’t get out of his head was Darlin’ by the Beach Boys. Sheldon thought the song represented his relationship with Amy, so he ran over to her apartment to ask her to get back together. Although Amy was on a date with Dave at the time, even he supported Sheldon telling Amy how he felt. After Sheldon and Amy agreed to get back together, Dave encouraged Sheldon to kiss her.

When Amy’s birthday fell on the day of the new Star Wars movie, Sheldon was initially going to skip Amy’s birthday, even though they were back together. After Sheldon’s friends and Professor Proton made him see that Amy was more important, Sheldon decided to do something big for Amy’s birthday - coitus. Amy learnt about Sheldon’s surprise in advance and was pleased that he was ready to be with her physically. On the night, Sheldon and Amy got over their nervousness and spent the night together. After an enjoyable experience for them both, Sheldon and Amy vowed to do it again on her next birthday.

After Sheldon fell sick while Amy was away at a neurobiology conference, Amy encouraged Sheldon to be more empathetic towards his friends. When Sheldon’s beloved Meemaw came to town, she was there to size Amy up. As Amy and Meemaw fell out, Sheldon was reluctant to stand up to his grandmother. With Leonard and Penny’s encouragement, Sheldon defended Amy to his Meemaw. Amy found out that Sheldon had an engagement ring that he'd been planning to give her, Meemaw gave them her blessing if Sheldon wanted to give the ring to Amy.

For their first Valentine's Day back together, Sheldon and Amy hosted a live edition of Fun with Flags. When Sheldon grew increasingly agitated as the call-in session was dominated by Raj and Barry Kripke's relationship problems, Amy made Sheldon see that his friend Raj was hurting just like he had during their break-up. Sheldon admitted that although the break-up hurt him, he was glad to have gone through it as his relationship with Amy was stronger than ever.

When Amy wanted to repay Sheldon for making her last birthday so memorable, she proposed throwing a birthday party for Sheldon. Sheldon was reluctant to have a party as he was still haunted by memories of his childhood parties, where his sisters friends would pick on him and nobody he invited would show up. After Sheldon agreed, Amy organized him a party with his close friends, Beverly Hofstadter, Barry Kripke, Leslie Winkle, Wil Wheaton, special guest Adam West, and a video call from Stephen Hawking. While toasting Sheldon, Amy said she felt like she got the greatest gift the day he was born.

After Sheldon's laptop died, Amy bought him a new laptop and offered to have his old one recycled for him. Amy thought Sheldon was being weird for not wanting to recycle his old laptop and refusing to explain why, so Sheldon realized it would be easier to show her than explain what was wrong. They drove to a storage unit, where Sheldon showed Amy that he had kept basically everything he ever owned. Amy tried to support Sheldon and thanked him for trusting with his secret.

When Amy's apartment was flooded by a burst water pipe, Leonard and Penny offered to let Amy stay in his room in Apartment 4A, so she would be living with Sheldon. After they encouraged Sheldon to consider living with Amy as an experiment in cohabitation, he was curious but thought it would be an unscientific experiment if he stayed in his home environment where he is already comfortable. To provide a neutral environment for their experiment, Penny offered to let Sheldon and Amy stay in Apartment 4B.

Before Sheldon and Amy moved in together, Penny and Leonard each offered them advice for living with another person. After Sheldon and Amy moved in together, they soon found each other's personal habits annoying. Although Sheldon slept comfortably, Amy struggled to sleep as he hogged the pillows and pushed her out of bed. The next morning, Amy was ready to call the experiment off. After Sheldon pointed out that they wouldn't be very good scientists to end an experiment after only twelve hours of data, Amy agreed to continue living together.

As they continued living together, Amy grew frustrated with Sheldon's desire to control every aspect of her life without making any concessions himself. During their first argument as a cohabiting couple, Sheldon considered dating other people, but Penny made him see that he only cared for Amy. Sheldon admitted that he was worried about hurting Amy like his father used to upset his mother. Sheldon learned to compromise and decided Amy didn’t need to follow a bathroom schedule, and that they could share a toothbrush holder.

After the renovation work on Amy’s apartment was complete, Sheldon found out that Amy had been lying to him about the state of the apartment. When Amy apologised for lying in order to keep staying with him, Sheldon admitted that he considered their experiment in cohabitation to have been positive and was open to living together permanently. Sheldon considered whether to move back to his old apartment with Amy or move somewhere else with her, but he finally settled on living with her in Apartment 4B. When Amy and Sheldon cultivated brain cells from their own skin cells, Sheldon became determined that they should have a baby together. Thinking they were not ready for such a step, Amy resisted Sheldon's attempts to come on to her.

When Bernadette went into labor on Amy’s birthday, Sheldon and Amy’s annual routine of coitus on her birthday was interrupted. After Bernadette was sent home from the hospital as she wasn’t far enough along, Amy and Sheldon returned to their bedroom to try get things started again. Amy gave Sheldon a present of his own to get him back in the mood, but he was more annoyed that Amy had been to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter without him. After Bernadette finally gave birth, Sheldon and Amy went to the Harry Potter theme park together and returned to the bedroom to complete Amy's birthday celebration.

During a trip to Texas for the holidays, Amy convinced Sheldon that they should tell Mary that they were now living together. Sheldon was worried that his Christian mother would object to them living in sin, but instead Mary was just happy that Sheldon had found someone accepted him. Sheldon was insulted that his mother thought he was so weird that he would never meet anyone, so Sheldon and Amy went out for a drive to calm down. When Sheldon told Amy that he knew they never should have told Mary about their living situation, Amy admitted that she knew it would be fine as she had already told Mary about their cohabitation. Sheldon objected to Amy thinking he can't handle his own life, but Amy said that in a relationship they should help each other with their shortcomings.

When Amy was offended that Sheldon had been sharing intimate details of their relationship with his colleagues, Sheldon apologized to Amy and drew up a list of "Zones of Privacy" which will govern what he shares with other people. Amy was pleased with Sheldon's apology and his desire to learn from his mistake, although she was a little put out to find she was only in Sheldon's second most intimate zone, after one reserved for his own private thoughts.

After Sheldon was interested in Amy's work on when an event of awareness takes place in the brain, they agreed to work together. They set out a number of ground rules to keep their work from affecting their relationship, but they soon realized their work was garbage. When Sheldon and Amy started bickering, they noticed it improved the quality of the work. Although Amy was uncomfortable risking their relationship for their work, they continued to argue for the sake of science.

When Amy was offered a summer research fellowship at Princeton University in New Jersey, she was unsure if she could leave Sheldon for three months. When Amy told Sheldon her news, he congratulated her on the job and insisted she must take it, but Sheldon then retreated to the bedroom upset. Leonard told Sheldon that Amy going away was an opportunity for him to prove he is a loving and supportive boyfriend. Sheldon bought Amy a suitcase for her trip and gave her his blessing. After Sheldon told Amy he was in the mood if she was, they headed to the bedroom for their first non-Birthday coitus.

While Amy was away at Princeton, she kept in contact with Sheldon by videochat. After Sheldon showed up at the university cafeteria one day with his old admirer, Dr. Ramona Nowitzki, the guys were immediately worried about her intentions and Sheldon’s seeming obliviousness. In one of their video chats, Sheldon told Amy how he was spending time with a colleague, Dr. Nowitzki, who was a huge fan of his work as well as tall, blond and a former Olympic swimmer.

As Sheldon and Ramona looked at his correspondence with famous people in his apartment, Amy video called Sheldon and was surprised to find out Ramona was there with him. Amy told Sheldon he was tired and should go to bed. Penny tried to make Sheldon see that Ramona was interested in being more than his friend, but Sheldon did not agree and insisted Ramona was just a friendly colleague.

When Ramona took lunch for Sheldon to his office the next day, he asked her if she was seeking a romantic relationship. After Ramona suggested she was and proceeded to kiss him, Sheldon immediately left his office, got a taxi to LAX airport, bought a ticket and boarded a plane. After he arrived in Princeton, he went to Amy's apartment and knocked on her door. When Amy opened the door, Sheldon was down on one knee, holding an engagement ring. Sheldon asked Amy if she will marry him.

Notable Friendships

Sheldon's best friend is Leonard, with whom Sheldon shared an apartment for around 13 years. Although Sheldon can be dismissive of Leonard and his accomplishments, Sheldon is very dependent on Leonard as a friend and formerly a roommate. Leonard is put upon to handle many chores for Sheldon, including driving him about and collecting Sheldon’s food. Sheldon sometimes overlooks the sacrifices Leonard has made, such as not living with his fiancee, to accommodate Sheldon.

Sheldon has occasionally shown a softer side towards Leonard. When Sheldon heard Penny might be considering dumping Leonard, Sheldon asked her not to hurt his friend. When Leonard temporarily moved out of the apartment because of Sheldon's annoying behavior, Sheldon tried repeatedly to get Leonard to return home. Sheldon was very concerned for Leonard when he needed minor surgery. When Sheldon feared he was losing his mind because of a song stuck in his head, he made a video which told “Crazy Future Sheldon” that “you can trust [Leonard] with your life. And [Leonard] does more things for you than I can even begin to list.”

When Sheldon and Leonard’s family came to town the day before Leonard and Penny’s second wedding ceremony, Mary and Alfred left the restaurant together. Sheldon and Leonard were both worried their parents might get together, making them stepbrothers. At the ceremony, Sheldon stood up and told Leonard and Penny that they are both of great importance to him.

Sheldon initially took a disapproving attitude to Leonard welcoming Penny into their social group, though he has since come to value her as a friend. Sheldon has shown appreciation for Penny when she has cared for him when he was sick or when she took him in because he was locked out of his apartment. Sheldon returned the favor by taking care of Penny when she injured her shoulder.

When Amy gave Sheldon a party to celebrate his birthday, he suddenly felt overwhelmed when he saw all the guests and presents. After Sheldon retreated to the bathroom, Penny went to comfort him. Penny told Sheldon that it was okay if he wasn’t able to go back out to the party. Penny mentioned how, at one point, she might have been like the girls who used to torture Sheldon, but that he’s now one of her favorite people.

Sheldon saves much of his condescension and scorn for Howard, whose career he looks down on with great pleasure. As a result of Sheldon's antagonism towards him, Howard has not been as tolerant of Sheldon's quirks as the other guys. Sheldon views himself as Howard's slightly apathetic tertiary friend and described Howard as a treasured acquaintance, rather than a friend. In an effort to improve their friendship, Howard invited Sheldon along to see him give a speech at NASA in Houston. When their plane was hit by turbulence, Howard and Sheldon apologized to each other for their past behavior.

After Howard had the idea of building on Leonard and Sheldon’s work on superfluid helium to develop a quantum gyroscope, they went to the University to apply for a patent. The guys were disheartened to learn that the university would own 75% of the patent rights and Howard’s name could not be listed on the patent. As a result, Sheldon and Leonard agreed to split their share with Howard, leading Sheldon to draw up a contract. After Bernadette pointed the problems Howard has had with Sheldon in the past, Howard told Sheldon that he was concerned about how Sheldon might treat him. After Penny suggested that Sheldon include a clause in the contract that prevents him from denigrating Howard or his work, Sheldon also added a clause that gifted a quarter of his share to a college fund for the Wolowitz baby.

Sheldon and Raj's friendship has also seen its share of drama, particularly when Sheldon offered Raj a job working with him. When Raj decided not to rely on his father’s money anymore, Sheldon went through Raj's finances and made a strict budget for him to live within his means.

When the rest of the group decided to go to a wine tasting event, Sheldon invited a pregnant Bernadette to spend the evening with him instead. Despite her initial fears about spending time with Sheldon, Bernadette had fun playing a Dungeons and Dragons game that Sheldon devised, in which Bernadette was a brave warrior queen whose husband was carrying their baby. Bernadette appreciated not having to be “pregnant Bernadette” for a night.

Career

Sheldon was offered the opportunity to conduct a three month expedition to the North Pole to study monopoles. Despite their initial reluctance at spending three months in a ice cabin with Sheldon, the other guys accepted Sheldon's request to accompanying him there. When the guys returned from the expedition, Sheldon was upset to learn the guys had manipulated his data with an electric can opener. Having already publicly announced his results, Sheldon returned home to Texas in shame. The guys flew out to pick him up and, when Sheldon got tired of his mother's religious views, he returned to Pasadena.

Sheldon thought he discovered a technique for creating a new heavy element and was pleased when a Chinese research team reportedly tested his technique with promising results. Sheldon soon realized he made a mistake and was uncomfortable being praised for his accidental discovery. Leonard later disproved Sheldon's discovery, forcing him to retract his findings.

After Sheldon grew frustrated at his lack of momentum in his string theory research, he decided to switch field and chose to focus on dark matter. Sheldon was angered when the university refused his request to switch his field of study. The university's refusal was one of the reasons that led to Sheldon leaving Pasadena on a cross-country train journey. When Sheldon returned to the university, they found a solution to allow him to change his research as long as he teaches a class as a junior professor.

When Howard found out he was going to be a father, he determined he needed to earn more money. He realized that Leonard and Sheldon's work on superfluid helium could be used in quantum vortices for guidance systems. Sheldon, Leonard and Howard agreed to work together and applied for a patent at the university. Despite the university taking 75% of the profits and not allowing Howard to be named on the patent, Sheldon and Leonard agreed to split their share with Howard.

When Howard, Leonard and Sheldon met with the Air Force representative to discuss their guidance system, Sheldon landed the guys with a harsh deadline. As they worked hard to meet the impossible deadline, Sheldon turned to caffeine to power him through and soon feared he was addicted to the stimulant. The guys eventually spoke to Colonel Williams and realized they were worrying over nothing, as government contractors rarely meet their deadlines.

When geologist Bert won a MacArthur Genius Grant, Sheldon was overcome with feelings of jealousy. As he struggled to deal with his toxic feelings, he repeatedly injured himself. Sheldon’s friends contacted Stephen Hawking to help Sheldon understand that even the greatest scientists occasionally have feelings of professional envy.

When Sheldon proved to be a distraction to Howard and Leonard as they worked to complete the guidance system, Leonard gave Sheldon a gift he’d been holding on to for a while: tickets to visit the Nevada Northern Railway. Sheldon was thrilled and immediately started to learn more about being a train engineer, but Leonard and Howard’s happiness with Sheldon’s absence came to an abrupt end when Colonel Williams demanded the guys make the guidance system smaller, which they could only do with Sheldon’s help.

After the guys celebrated the successful end of the first stage of their guidance system project, they were shocked to discover the Air Force had cleaned out their lab and had taken over the project.

Trivia

Full name: Sheldon Lee Cooper.

Birth date: February 26, 1980.

Home town: Galveston, Texas.

Sheldon and Leonard are both named after the famed TV producer and actor Sheldon Leonard.

Sheldon had 212 friends on MySpace.

Sheldon is fluent in Morse code.

Sheldon has an IQ of 187.

Sheldon's favorite amino acid is lysine.

Sheldon has a fear of birds and of nets.

Sheldon's favorite number is 73.

Sheldon Quotes

Raj: I don't like bugs, okay. They freak me out.Sheldon: Interesting. You're afraid of insects and women. Ladybugs must render you catatonic.

Sheldon: Why are you crying?
Penny: Because I'm stupid.
Sheldon: That's no reason to cry. One cries because one is sad. For example, I cry because others are stupid, and that makes me sad.

Howard: Sheldon, don't take this the wrong way, but, you're insane.
Leonard: That may well be, but the fact is it wouldn't kill us to meet some new people.
Sheldon: For the record, it could kill us to meet new people. They could be murderers or the carriers of unusual pathogens. And I'm not insane, my mother had me tested.

Penny: You guys just got back together. You might not want to ditch her on her birthday.Leonard: I think Penny has a point. You can see it another day.Sheldon: But someone might spoil the movie. No one can spoil Amy's birthday for me. Surprise, she's even older. Who saw that coming?Penny: Aww, that's nice. Put that on her cake.